Standing Up for Righteousness!
(Words From The Mountain)
George Galatis was an engineer at Millstone
Nuclear Power Station in Waterford, Connecticut, when he realized something was
wrong. The spent fuel-rod pools risked releasing radioactivity throughout the
plant. The pools were not meant to serve as nuclear waste dumps. Federal
guidelines required the Millstone plant to move only a third of the rods into
the pools, but Galatis discovered that all of the hot fuel had been dumped into
them.
Supervisors overlooked this routine
violation, knowing they were saving millions by taking shortcuts. Fearing that
the violations could endanger thousands of lives, Galatis told his colleague,
George Betancourt, that they should contact the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC). Betancourt agreed but was worried about his colleague's future.
"You do that," he said, "and you're dog meat." When Galatis
urged plant managers to stop the hazardous practices, they refused. Since many
of his supervisors were churchgoers, he was baffled.
"This was not splitting hairs,"
Galatis says. "These were not technical issues. These were moral
issues." Galatis warned his supervisors about what could happen: an
eventual shutdown, plant decommissioning, and criminal investigations. But
after two years, nothing had changed—except the workplace atmosphere in which
Galatis found himself. When he sat down in the cafeteria, coworkers left. When
he entered a meeting, the room went silent. Coworkers spread rumors that he was
an alcoholic, and his performance evaluation suffered.
Galatis began a focused search for God's
guidance. He woke up at 4 a.m. to pray and read the Scriptures. During lunch
breaks, he drove to a quiet place to pray and search the Bible. It was during
one of these prayer times that Galatis believed God whispered to him,
"Will you die for me?" Though he feared for his safety, Galatis
realized there were many ways of dying: his livelihood, his reputation, and his
family were at stake.
After months of prayer and study, he
concluded that no matter how much he was badgered, God would not let him be destroyed.
He decided to contact the NRC. They offered him no refuge. Coworkers confronted
him in the hallways and his office. Some called him a fool; others, a
troublemaker. He was subtly threatened and harassed for months, and coworkers
often told him, "Shut up and keep your job."
After four years of fighting Millstone and
enduring harassment from coworkers, Galatis finally secured a severance
agreement and left. The NRC never suspended Millstone's license, but three
reactors were shut down for repairs at a cost of over $1 billion. A criminal
investigation was initiated. Millstone reactor 1 will never reopen. The
Millstone 2 and 3 plants did not reopen until years later. Galatis is now 47
and attends Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, with hopes of becoming a
pastor."[1]
This true story illustrates what happens when
we stand up for righteousness. It resonates with Christians in New England who
face workplace harassment as they practice their faith in a secular setting.
This is a mild form of persecution that some in the USA might experience, but
many of our brothers and sisters worldwide face much greater harassment and
persecution.
In our series on The Words From the Mountain,
we reach a crucial moment where our faith will be tested. Our Lord clearly and
directly explains what happens to those who want to be His disciples and stand
up for righteousness and the rewards associated with it. Matthew 5:10-12
I Standing Up For Righteousness
"Blessed are those who are persecuted
for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed
are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil
against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice
and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted
the prophets who were before you." Matthew 5:10-12 (ESV).
Up to this point in his teaching, Jesus
pronounced seven blessings on those who are serious about following Him, no
matter what. The blessedness Jesus referred to here was more than a fleeting
happiness that depends on our circumstances. It is a deep sense of Joy and
Shalom (Inner and outward well-being), both in this chaotic world and in the
future, that no person can give, and no circumstance can take away.
The people Jesus pronounced "blessed" represent a
Kingdom culture, exhibiting Kingdom values that are not typically welcomed by
the world at large. All the Beatitudes are counter-cultural to the world's
values, but perhaps none so markedly as this eighth one. How can being
persecuted be "blessed"? Persecution is never pleasant but involves
suffering and often severe pain. As Jesus qualifies, the blessed persecution
comes "for righteousness' sake." In life, we all go through some
suffering; some suffer for doing evil, but that is punishment.
Others suffer persecution for reasons unrelated to
righteousness. Jesus is not pronouncing blessedness to all victims of
persecution for any cause. No! He offered to only those who actively pursue His
Kingdom of righteousness, and because of their unwavering faith in Him.
Matthew 5:11 states, "Blessed are you when others
revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on
my account." Peter explains it this way: "But how is it to your
credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it?" But if you
suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God." I Peter 2:20. NIV
The apostle Paul, writing to Timothy, expands the scope of
persecution to include all believers: "In fact, everyone who wants to live
a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." II Timothy 3:12. The
blessedness of persecution is promised only to those who want to live a godly
life in Christ Jesus. Let's look at what does for the sake of righteousness
mean?
II. What does Standing Up For Righteousness Mean?
When we hear the word righteousness, our minds immediately
think of our personal moral purity and right standing with God. While that is
partly true, the Hebrew understanding of righteousness is much richer, broader,
and more community-oriented than we often realize.
The biblical word righteousness is based on two Hebrew
words. "Tzedakah is the right living with God, that actively
restores relationships and seeks the well-being of others. The second word,
Mishpat, is the application of justice, the kind that creates a fair and stable
society where the vulnerable are protected, and everyone is treated equitably.
These
two core ideas, Tzedakah and Mishpat, are not separate concepts but deeply
interconnected components of biblical righteousness."[2] So a righteous person,
biblically speaking, is more than being good; he wholeheartedly loves God and
seeks the Shalom of others.
Here
are a couple of scriptures that explain the dual concept of righteousness. "He has told you, O
man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and
to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8, ESV). But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! Amos 5:24.
Notice how righteousness is linked with justice, loving kindness, and
walking humbly with God. This demonstrates that righteousness is never
practiced alone but is always relational with God and others. God wanted His
people to pursue righteousness so much that He established laws to care for
widows, the poor, orphans, and strangers, and to defend the rights of the
vulnerable by bringing justice for them. That is what standing up for
righteousness means.
When we stand up for righteousness or in Christ's name to bring people
back to God and seek the well-being of others, we will undoubtedly face
persecution, which has been happening since the time of the prophets and
continues today in many parts of the world.
Every day, more than 12 Christians are killed for
their faith. That's one Christian every two hours—murdered because they follow
Jesus. Open Doors' 2025 World Watch List, the annual report that ranks the 50
most difficult places to be a Christian, highlights these grim facts. Other
numbers are just as horrifying: 4,744 believers were arrested, imprisoned,
detained without trial, or sentenced; 3,775 followers of Jesus were abducted;
3,944 Christians were sexually assaulted, harassed, or forcibly married to
non-Christians. Nearly 55,000 believers experienced mental or physical abuse
because of their faith, and 28,368 homes, shops, and businesses belonging to
Christians were attacked. Additionally, nearly 210,000 followers of Christ were
forced to flee their homes.[3]
These
are not just numbers and statistics; they are our brothers and sisters in God's
family. Why are they being harassed and persecuted so harshly? All because they
stood up for righteousness and claimed the name of Christ. Jesus called them
blessed, and theirs is the Kingdom of God. For that reason, we pray and support
persecuted Christians. More importantly, we will stand up for righteousness
wherever God has placed us, so that we, too, will be blessed.
